MOSCOW (AP) — Russian lawmakers on Tuesday approved a bill that broadened the definition of high treason, part of authorities' efforts to tighten control as the fighting in Ukraine is nearing the three-year mark.
The amendments approved by the lower house, the State Duma, in second and third readings expand the definition of high treason to include affiliation with any organization involved in “activities against security of the Russian Federation.”
The current legislation has a more narrow interpretation of “turning to the enemy side,” defining it as joining the enemy's armed forces.
Those convicted of high treason could be sentenced to life in prison.
“In the situation when our soldiers are risking their lives in the battle for Russia's sovereignty, there are no ‘neutral’ or 'peaceful' organizations on the enemy side," said Vasily Piskarev, head of the Duma's security affairs committee and one of the bill's authors. “We can't allow anyone to work for the enemy on our territory.”
Rights advocates have warned that the bill's vague formulation could be used to target anyone who has ties to any Ukrainian organization and potentially could be interpreted more broadly to also punish those who have any contact with Western organizations or companies.
The legal definition of treason already has been expanded to include providing vaguely defined “assistance” to foreign countries or organizations.
The proposed amendments, which also must be approved by the upper house and signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin to become law, also introduce punishment of up to 15 years in prison for foreigners and people without citizenship who are accused of “assisting enemy activities aimed against security of the Russian Federation.”
Treason and espionage cases have skyrocketed after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. The cases have targeted a wide range of suspects, from Kremlin critics and independent journalists to scientists, drawing attention from rights groups.
In this photo released by The State Duma, Russian lawmakers listen the national anthem prior to a session at the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (The State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament via AP)
In this photo released by The State Duma, Russian lawmakers listen the national anthem prior to a session at the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (The State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament via AP)
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — The New York architect facing murder charges in a string of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach killings was charged on Tuesday in the death of a seventh woman.
Rex Heuermann was charged with killing Valerie Mack, whose remains were first found on Long Island in 2000. Mack, 24, had been working as an escort in Philadelphia and was last seen by her family that year in New Jersey.
Mack’s partial skeletal remains were first found in Manorville, New York, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of where more of her remains were discovered on Gilgo Beach more than 10 years later. They were unidentified until genetic testing revealed her identity in 2020.
Human hair found with Mack’s remains was sent for testing earlier this year and found to be a likely match with the genetic profile of Heuermann’s daughter, prosecutors said in court papers. His daughter is not accused of any wrongdoing and would have been three or four years old when Mack died.
Appearing on Tuesday in a courtroom in Riverhead, New York, Heuermann told the judge: “I’m not guilty of any of these charges, your honor.”
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office was expected to hold a news conference alongside local and state law enforcement following the court appearance.
Heuermann is charged with killing six other women whose remains were found on Long Island.
The investigation into the Gilgo Beach killings dates back to 2010, when police searching for a missing woman found 10 sets of human remains in the scrub along a barrier island parkway, prompting fears of a serial killer.
Over the years, investigators used DNA analysis and other clues to identify the victims, many of whom were sex workers. In some cases, they connected them to remains found elsewhere on Long Island years earlier. Police also began reexamining other unsolved killings of women found dead on Long Island.
The case has dragged on through five police commissioners, more than 1,000 tips and doubts about whether there was a serial killer at all.
Heuermann, who lived with his wife and two children in Massapequa Park on Long Island and commuted to a Manhattan architecture office, was arrested on July 13, 2023, and charged with murdering Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman and Melissa Barthelemy. He was charged in the deaths of three other women — Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor — earlier this year. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
In a June court filing, prosecutors said they had recovered a file on a hard drive in Heuermann’s basement that he used to “methodically blueprint” his killings — including checklists with tasks to tick off before, during and afterwards, as well as lessons for “next time.”
In court papers on Tuesday, prosecutors said the document, which was created the same year as Mack’s murder, includes details that align with her case.
For example, it names “Mill Road” — a road near where Mack’s first remains were found — under the heading “DS,” which investigators believe stands for “dump site.”
The document also lists “foam drain cleaner” under “Supplies.” Prosecutors say that on Oct. 3, 2000, Heuermann’s phone records appear to show him making two calls to a Long Island plumbing company, and he paid another company the following month to check his mainline drain.
In recent searches of Heuermann’s home and office, authorities say they found old magazines and newspapers with articles about the Gilgo Beach killings and investigation that prosecutors believe he kept as “souvenirs” or “mementos.” Among them was a July 29, 2003 copy of the New York Post that included an article about the disappearance and deaths of Mack and Taylor.
Prosecutors are also looking into the death of Karen Vergata, whose remains were first discovered in 1996 and finally identified in 2022 after a new DNA analysis.
In September, authorities released new renderings of an unidentified victim who was found in 2011. Officials said the victim, who for years they had identified as male, may have presented outwardly as female and died in 2006.
FILE - This undated photo provided by the Suffolk County, New York, Police Department, Thursday May 28, 2020, shows Valerie Mack who went missing in 2000. The New York architect accused in a string of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach killings has been charged in the death of a seventh woman. Rex Heuermann was charged Tuesday with killing Valerie Mack. (Suffolk County Police Department via AP, File)
FILE - Rex Heuermann, center, charged in the Gilgo Beach serial killings on Long Island, appears for a hearing, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, N.Y. (James Carbone/Newsday via AP, File, Pool)
FILE - Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney speaks to reporters during a news conference in Riverhead, N.Y., Thursday, June 6, 2024. Rex Heuermann, the New York architect accused of killing four women and leaving their bodies near Long Island's Gilgo Beach, has been accused in the deaths of two more women. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
